Go Back
–+ servings
airy sourdough pizza dough

Best Sourdough Pizza Dough

Sourdough pizza dough with light and crispy edges, a fluffy and chewy interior, and a mild sourdough flavor.  Made with just four ingredients that are simple to mix up with or without a mixer, this sourdough pizza dough can be made several hours or days ahead of time, making for almost effortless pizza nights.
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 8 hours
Total Time 9 hours 10 minutes
Serving Size 4 10" Pzzas

Ingredients

  • 3 cups warm water
  • 1 cup active sourdough starter
  • 2 Tablespoons salt
  • 2 Tablespoons oil
  • 7 cups all purpose or bread flour

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer, add the water, sourdough starter, oil and salt.  Stir or mix until combined.
  • Add the flour and mix until it’s a shaggy dough.  If mixing by hand, let it set for a few minutes and then begin a series of 3 or 4 stretch and folds about 15-30 minutes apart.  This will develop the gluten.  If using your mixer, let it mix for 10 minutes to fully develop the gluten.
  • After the gluten is developed from the stretch and folds, or the mixing, let the dough rise or bulk ferment at room temperature for 2 or 3 hours.
  • Place the dough in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make pizza.  It’s best if it’s in the fridge for a couple of hours, but it can stay in the refrigerator for up to a week.  The dough will slowly continue to rise in the fridge, but that is totally normal.  If you don't have time to put it into the fridge, it can be shaped and baked right away.  It can also be frozen at this point for 2 to 3 months.
  • When you’re ready to make pizza, take the dough out of the refrigerator and let it warm up for an hour if possible.  This step is optional and just helps the yeasts in the dough to wake up a little bit.

Brick Oven Pizza

  • Preheat your oven to 500 degrees with the pizza stones or cast iron pans in it for at 30 minutes.
  • Tear off a piece of parchment paper for each of your pizzas.
  • Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces using a bench scraper (or whatever sized pizzas you want to make).
  • Lightly grease the parchment paper if desired, and gently spread the dough out on the parchment paper, leaving the edge to be the thickest part.  
  • Add desired toppings, and place each pizza into the oven onto a preheated pizza stone using a pizza peel (see video below).
  • Set the timer for 5 to 7 minutes.  
  • Check to make sure the pizza crust looks done, and turn the oven onto broil for 2 minutes.

Shuffle The Pizzas

  • Remove the pizza from the top rack of the oven, and move the pizzas on the next shelves down up one shelf.  Add another pizza to the bottom if applicable.
  • If the crust looks done, let the pizza sit under the broiler for 2 minutes and remove from the oven.
  • Continue shuffling the pizzas from the bottom and middle racks to the top shelf as the crust is baked enough and then let them broil for a couple of minutes to really melt the cheese.  The pizzas on the lower racks will continue to bake in the hot oven while the pizza on top gets broiled.
  • Using this method allows you to bake several pizzas in just a few minutes, and makes the most beautiful puffy pizza crust.

Regular Pizza Pan Or Baking Sheet

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Spread your dough out gently on a greased pizza pan.  
  • Add your favorite toppings.
  • Bake for 15 minutes or until done.
  • Cut The Pizza

Notes

Tips For Making Sourdough Pizza Dough

  • If you make the dough several days ahead, it will have the puffiest crust and best flavor
  • Don’t forget to preheat your oven and pizza stones before baking
  • Gently spread out the dough before adding toppings, try not to flatten it too much, and leave it thick on the edges
  • You can roll string cheese into the edges before baking and you’ll have stuffed crust
  • For best results, bake this sourdough pizza dough on a pizza stone or cast iron pizza pan.  The even heat makes it bake up perfectly!
  • If you plan to make the pizza the same day you mix up the dough, just mix it up 6-8 hours ahead of time and let it bulk ferment on the counter instead of putting it in the refrigerator.  Just be careful not to overferment it, or you’ll have a sloppy mess.  If you need to slow down it’s rise, or pause at any point, you can just refrigerate the dough
  • You can mix the dough in a stand mixer, or do stretch and folds to develop the gluten
  • Brown the meat, chop the veggies and mix up the dough ahead of time, and you can have a simple and easy pizza party with no fuss and minimal mess.
QR Code linking back to recipe